Mr Good Mood
by lizandletdie
Summary: Belle has a perfectly nice one night stand with an older gentleman the night before brunch with her roommate's dad. No points are awarded for guessing what happens next.
1. Chapter 1

Belle French was on track for a pretty good Sunday. For one thing, she'd had plans to go to brunch with her roommate Neal and his dad. For another, she woke up in a pretty nice hotel room and not their shared apartment in Brooklyn. This place had super fluffy pillows, lots of windows, and absolutely no Neal Cassidy to have overheard the sex she'd had with a strange older man the night before. He liked to tease her about her daddy issues, but if either of them had those it was, quite frankly, him. She just liked a man who knew what he was doing in bed, and this one definitely had. Suffice to say, she was in a particularly good mood.

Mr. Good Mood himself was already awake and watching her sleep, though he pretended to look away as soon as he realized she'd caught him looking.

"Good morning," she said, stretching out languidly. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did," he replied, draping his arm over her torso and pulling her close. "Did you?"

"Inasmuch as you could say I slept, anyway."

He chuckled and snaked his hand between her legs to tease her. It felt so good, and she just wanted to let him keep her here all day, but she was already running late.

"I can't," she moaned. "I really, really want to. But I have to go get ready for brunch."

"Can't you cancel?" he asked. "Or postpone it. Call it lunch. Nobody gets lunch anymore, you'll be setting a trend."

She giggled and squirmed away, sitting up and drawing a groan of protest from him.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I promised my roommate."

He sat up behind her and brushed her hair to the side so he could trail kisses up and down her neck. It felt so damn good she couldn't help but to tilt her head to the side and let him have his way.

"Five more minutes," he practically purred into her hair. "I promise I'll make it worth your while."

"Make it fifteen," she said, letting him pull her back down into his bed. She'd have to do her makeup in the cab, but god he was worth it. Anyway, Neal's dad wasn't in town to see _her_ , and what did she care if some uptight New England business man was impressed?

"You're late!" Neal yelled from his room as soon as she walked through the door. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I missed my train," she fibbed. She'd missed it because her fifteen minute quicky had turned into half an hour of oral sex before he even got back on top of her. Suffice to say, she was feeling pretty good in spite of her tardiness.

"You missed your train at ten last night?" he said teasingly, coming to his bedroom door so she could see he was already almost dressed. "Oh, and you got a hickey from the late train!"

She slapped her hand over her neck where Mr. Good Mood had been sucking on it earlier. Crap.

"Go get ready," Neal continued, chuckling smugly now that he'd caught her. "And wear a scarf or something. My dad is kind of old fashioned."

Great, just what she needed. She wouldn't do this for just anyone, but he was telling his dad he wanted to change his major to photography and that it was going to push his graduation back another two years. Not that Belle cared that it was going to take him eight years to finish at this point. But the elder Mr. Cassidy paid over half their rent, and there was no way the two of them could afford the two bedroom in Brooklyn without him. If Neal needed backup, she really needed to be there. Still, that didn't mean she had to be happy about giving up her Sunday morning sex for brunch, but at least they were going to a pretty nice place and she wasn't paying. She'd get over it.

She showered in record time and pinned her hair up into a loose bun to disguise that she hadn't had time to wash it, and then threw on a simple pink sundress. She managed to dig out a yellow floral silk scarf her grandma had given her for Christmas a few years back before Neal was dragging her out the door to hail a cab. She could do her makeup and deal with the scarf in the taxi, and if they were lucky then miraculously they'd only be a few minutes late.

"So you gonna tell me about last night?" Neal asked. "I mean, you must have had a pretty good time."

"There's not much to tell," she said as she did her mascara. "I met a guy at a bar and went back to his place."

"Does this mystery guy have a name?"

"Joshua," she replied. "But I've been calling him Mr. Good Mood."

"Yeah? His good mood or yours?"

"Both," she said with a wink. "See, he had these really long fingers, and…"

"Okay, okay, okay," Neal interrupted. "That's enough. My dad's name is Joshua and now I just have that mental image in my head and it's not okay."

"Hey, you asked."

"Sure, hold that against me," he replied. "So are you gonna see Mr. Good Mood again?"

"No, I think he was just a one time thing."

"Too bad," Neal said with a shrug. "Seems like you liked him."

She had, but she was too busy to deal with a guy right now. She was in her last year of grad school and unlike Neal she didn't have a rich dad to send her money for rent and food. Seeing a man more than once was a luxury she couldn't really fit into her schedule and besides, he'd only been in town for a few days. No amount of enjoying him could fix that, even if she'd had the time. It was best to get out early, and that's exactly what she'd done.

They rode the rest of the way in silence and Neal paid the cabbie once they'd pulled up outside the restaurant. It was a _really_ nice place, and Belle was suddenly thankful that the hickey had forced the scarf on her. Without the accessory, she was bordering on underdressed which just made her more self-conscious about the haphazard way she'd tied it.

Neal gave their names to the maitre d' who led then led them further into the restaurant. She was busy fiddling with her scarf trying to make sure it looked like more than a hickey cover while they walked, which just drew Neal's attention to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm making my scarf look like that woman we saw at the entrance's."

"It looks fine," he whispered. "Just leave it."

"But I'm almost done!"

"Leave it!" he hissed.

She was so focused on him and her neck she didn't realize the maitre d' had stopped until Neal threw his arm out to keep her from bumping into him.

"Hey dad!" Neal said. "It's so nice to see you."

His dad was talking as Belle finished her scarf, but she couldn't quite place it until she looked up to be introduced and saw _him._ It was Mr. Good Mood.

He didn't seem to recognize her right away, but she saw him do a double-take as soon as he did. His jaw dropped with the same surprise she felt, and she realized with a growing sense of horror that it wasn't just a dream or a really weird hallucination. She had actually fucked her best friend's dad, and now they were all going to have brunch.

Joshua Gold was completely immobile. That was Lacey standing next to his son. The same Lacey he'd last seen leaving his hotel room a few hours previously. The Lacey whose vulva he'd had his mouth on first thing that morning. What was she doing here? She'd said she was going to brunch with friends. It took him an uncomfortably long time to realize that Neal was her friend. Oh sweet Jesus. Neal was talking and Joshua was having a real hard time keeping up because there was no way he was going to like anything his son could be saying.

"Dad, this is my roommate, Belle French," Neal said, gesturing to the pretty girl who was watching him with wide, horrified eyes. "Belle, this is my dad, Joshua Gold."

He somehow managed to shake her hand, though Neal had to hold her chair out for her. Joshua was just impressed he'd managed to get himself seated.

"So Neal," Lacey or Belle or whatever her name was said over her menu. "Why don't you and your dad have the same last name?"

It wasn't the most tactful question he'd ever heard, but he was having a hard time not staring at her openly.

"Cassidy is my mom's name," Neal said slowly. "They hyphenated. You knew that. Neal Cassidy-Gold."

She whimpered a little bit and buried her face back in the menu. At least that had solved the mystery of why she hadn't recognized his name, although that didn't really make him feel a lot better about the situation. The waitress came by quickly and he wasn't at all surprised when Belle ordered a mimosa – boy did drinking seem like a good idea. He got a Bloody Mary, because he was fairly certain a straight vodka would get him some raised eyebrows.

Somehow, they managed to make some small talk, though probably because Neal was willing to carry most of the conversation all by himself. Belle was fiddling with her phone in her lap, and not long after Neal's phone rang and he glanced down.

"Oh, I have to take this," he said. "Sorry. It's...school. Excuse me."

Neal made a quick exit and Joshua turned towards Belle immediately.

"You said your name was Lacey," he whispered.

"My middle name is Larissa," she replied quickly. "Forgive me for not wanting to tell a strange man my real name!"

"And what are you doing going back to hotel rooms with strange men?"

"Oh my God," she replied. "You're not my dad and I am an adult. I do not have to explain myself to you. What are _you_ doing bringing strange women back to your hotel? I could have robbed and murdered you!"

"Okay, this is not a productive area of discussion," he said, before a horrible thought occurred to him. "You've never slept with Neal, have you?"

"Don't be gross," she said, making a face. "I _live_ with him, you think I'd sleep with him, too?"

"Well excuse me for asking, all things considered!"

"You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"Of course not," he said. "Why on Earth would I do that?"

He couldn't even imagine Neal's reaction to hearing about that. His relationship with his son was already tumultuous. There was no way he needed to know about _any_ of this happening. Ever. Maybe on Joshua's death bed, but not a moment sooner.

"Sorry about that," Neal said as he returned to the table. "I hope you two had a good talk."

Belle nodded stiffly and took a large gulp of her mimosa. Neal looked at her for a second before turning to face Joshua, who at this point really just wanted to wake up and find out this was all a horrible dream but seeing as he wasn't doing any math problems in his underwear yet that was probably too much to hope for.

"It was fine," Joshua said at last. "We were just getting to know each other."

"Yes," Belle said. "We got to know each other."

"That's great," Neal said. "So, Dad, how have you been?"

"Fine," Joshua forced out. "I've been keeping busy."

Belle inhaled some of her mimosa and started coughing uncontrollably into her napkin.

"You okay?" Neal asked and she nodded and covered her face while she finished up her coughing fit. "Okay," Neal continued. "Anyway, Dad, so you know how you've been pushing me to figure out what I can do with my major?"

"You mean how I asked you what you were going to do with a major in Ancient Chinese Philosophy?"

"Well, I think I figured it out."

"Oh good. What is the job market for ancient Chinese philosophers like?"

Joshua had no idea where his son was going with this, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. This was the third time they'd had this conversation, and every time it ended with Neal deciding on a more obscure major for himself. Before this, it had been Russian history and Roman literature. Joshua hadn't even been aware you could major in any of those things anymore, and yet he'd paid for six years of them so far and it was looking good for another two of something equally ridiculous. Maybe this time would be art history with a focus on modern Appalachian folk art.

"So I was thinking of changing my major to photography," Neal said. In a way, this was actually an improvement. It wasn't Photography of the Ancient World or anything equally ridiculous, but still.

"Neal…" he said, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling while he tried to gather his thoughts. "You're too smart to keep doing this."

"It's not a big deal," Neal said quickly. "There's actually a job market for photographers, and I know some people who can get me an in with some other work and I can freelance…"

"How long?" Joshua interrupted.

"What?"

"How much longer are you going to be in school?"

"It'll only be another two years."

"Good lord, Neal. That's eight years. Assuming this one sticks, and there's no guarantee of that."

"Lots of people go to school for eight years, Dad."

"They're called doctors."

"Belle's in her sixth year."

Joshua looked over at Belle who was holding her glass directly in front of her face.

"I'm not Belle's father," he said at last. "And I'm not paying Belle's tuition."

"I'm getting my master's degree," she muttered weakly.

"And she's getting her master's degree!" Joshua said. "I'm not paying for you to get another major. Can't you just finish one of the others you've started?"

"You're the one who didn't like any of those!" Neal said. "This one has real prospects and it'll let me express myself."

"Can we just have brunch?" Joshua said. "I do not want to go through all this at the restaurant."

"Fine," Neal snipped. "But I'm not going to let this go!"

"Perfect," Joshua replied. "I cannot wait to discuss this later."

The waitress finally arrived with their food and they ate in an awkward silence. So far this trip was going just about as badly as it possibly could.


	2. Chapter 2

cuddlewuddlebunny said: : Joshua feels needy and decides to watch some porn in his hotel room. Somehow he can't help but reliving his night with Belle and its driving him nuts! (Bc UST is fun!)

Anonymous said: Mr. Good Mood was so fun! I loved it! Can I prompt that after lunch Neal insists on doing touristy stuff with his dad and bestie not realizing every time he steps away for a moment they are snarking at each other about the night before and sweet old oblivious Neal just thinks Belle and his dad are hitting it off :)

chipped-cup-lou said: I may have a prompt for Mr Good Mood: can we get a flashback as to how Belle and Joshua met and the events that lead them back to the hotel room (possibly with Joshua's pov? or Belle's. Which ever perspective inspiration calls forth)? Also, sometime after brunch, Joshua and Belle can't stop thinking about each other. They somehow bump into each other again.

* * *

Belle just wanted to go home and pretend like none of this had ever happened, and she strongly suspected Joshua "Good Mood" Gold felt the same way. He hadn't made eye contact with her since he'd recognized her and from what Neal had told her about his dad, he was probably regretting ever laying eyes on her. She never should have gone back to his hotel. It had been a lot of fun, but damn this was complicated as hell now.

It was a little hard to swallow her pride and let him pay for brunch (and her three mimosas) but there was no way she was going to explain to Neal why her pride was so wounded by the idea, but fortunately the three mimosas really helped to soothe her wounded ego. It just felt way too much like a date to let him pay for her after she'd slept with him, and that was not something she was super comfortable with at this point in her life and especially with her best friend's dad.

"Thanks for brunch, pop," Neal said as they exited the restaurant.

"Thank you," Belle added because she still had to be polite.

"Thank you both," he replied. "It was a...lovely. It was lovely. But if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go back to my hotel."

"Nonsense," Neal said, looking at Belle frantically. "We can show you around the neighborhood! Don't you want to see the…."

He trailed off and looked at Belle for help, which she absolutely did not want to provide. She wanted to go back to her apartment and drink away the last couple days. But Neal was still looking at her and he was going to think it was suspicious if she didn't back him up.

"You can take him to the…" Her mind was racing – the museum was closed, it was too early for Coney Island, and Joshua Gold didn't strike her as the type to find any of the local hipster restaurants particularly interesting. "Prospect Park?" she finally blurted out.

"Yes!" Neal exclaimed, running with her awful idea. "You've got to see the park."

"Neal, I'm not going to the park so you can try to sell me on this."

"Come on," Neal replied, sounding mildly offended. "You're the one who's always saying we should spend more time together."

"What would we even do at the park besides walk?"

"The Botanical Gardens are open?" Belle said quietly. "You could go there instead."

"Yeah," Neal said. "Belle _loves_ the botanical gardens, right, Belle?"

Oh hell he was going to make her come with them, that bastard. But it was her apartment on the line, too. Dammit.

"Yeah, it's great," she said as enthusiastically as she could manage. "You'll love the...plants."

He looked like he was going to protest again, but Neal was already hailing a cab and both of them let him drag them into it. Belle sat in the front with the driver so the other two could talk, which really didn't help too much, since the sum total of their conversation was Neal mentioning local points of interest while his father nodded mutely and occasionally checked the time on his watch. She was still wearing a pair of tall white pumps, she'd had at least one more cocktail with brunch than she probably should have, and her best friend was trying to get money out of her one night stand. This was going to be an absolutely brutal afternoon.

Belle hadn't been entirely lying about liking the botanical gardens, but it wasn't someplace she went regularly. They were surrounded by families and tourists, and as the day wore on it was getting hotter and more crowded and at last Joshua offered to buy them all drink at the cafe. Her feet hurt too much to refuse and Neal was eager enough to get in his father's good graces that he immediately offered to wait in line while the other two sat.

She eased her shoes off and unknotted her scarf. Neal had told her not to let his dad see the hickey, but considering his father was the one who had put it there she wasn't going to worry too much about it. On the plus side, he was glancing at it and blushing so hey, maybe she should have taken it off earlier. It might have gotten him to agree to keep paying Neal's rent.

"So you really didn't know who I was?" he asked, pointedly not looking at her.

"If I had, I wouldn't have gone back with you," she replied. "Or I wouldn't have gone to brunch. Not sure which yet. I had a really good time with you."

That seemed to startle him into looking at her, but it was the truth. She'd enjoyed his company and his various body parts, and it was a shame that it had been spoiled by all this.

"I had fun, too," he said. "I'm sorry it all got so..."

"Shitty?"

"I was going to say _awkward_ but that works, too."

"For the record, I didn't have anything to do with Neal's new major."

"I didn't think you did," he replied. "I know he's just finding himself, but I'm not doing him any favors by letting him avoid taking any responsibility for himself."

She couldn't disagree with that assessment. Neal had a tendency to sort of coast on being smart and charming, and he certainly lived a very different lifestyle than she did. But with that said, she needed her roommate and she did love Neal like a brother. A brother whose father she'd slept with. Awesome.

"I'd rather not talk about it, if it's all the same with you," she said at last. This was really something they were going to have to work out for themselves.

"You're right, it's not entirely appropriate. How are your feet?"

"They'll be fine. It's not the first time I've walked through a park in heels."

"Do you have school tomorrow?"

"No, we're on break this week. I do have work, though."

"Where do you work?"

"I'm a TA, but weekends and holidays I work at a resale shop."

"Wow, you certainly stay busy."

"Gotta pay the bills somehow," she replied. "We don't _all_ have rich dads."

She probably shouldn't have said that, but before she could apologize Neal returned with bottles of water and ice cream and at that point it was too late to bring it up again. They walked the rest of the garden with Neal making a point of taking pictures of _everything_. He would meticulously arrange Belle or his father in front of something and then take pictures until his model would get tired and wander off. After a little while, he started focusing his attentions on Belle so he could turn the camera to his father to point out how good his composition was. It was exhausting, and by the time Neal finally got a promise from his father to meet him for dinner on Monday Belle was just ready to go home and take a bath.

Belle was going to kill Neal and solve all their problems. He knew she had to work the next day, he knew he'd kept her out all morning, and he'd invited his awful girlfriend Tamara over when they got home. Belle was sure Tamara had her good qualities, but honestly Belle could not see them. Tamara was pushy, but not in a way that actually encouraged him to do anything. All they ever seemed to do together was go out and buy things. Except apparently tonight they were going to stay in and work out what Neal was going to tell his father and probably have really loud sex.

The easy solution was to pack a bag and go to Ruby's apartment and beg a place on her sofa, but there was another option that would combine her annoyance at Neal with her need to apologize to his dad. It wasn't going to be a classy move, but she was pissed enough at the whole situation that she didn't really care. Besides, she was worn out and she had a good idea about what would make her feel better – and Ruby didn't have a bathtub.

This is really what Joshua deserved for hooking up with a girl the same age as his son. It had seemed like a great idea at the time, but he'd been a few drinks into the night and she'd been beautiful and flirtatious and (against all odds) interested in him. In hindsight, she'd probably had a few to drink as well, but she'd been eager to get to know him. He didn't even remember who had proposed going back to his hotel but they'd both been incredibly into it, and truth be told the first thing to go through his head when he'd recognized her was excitement that he'd found her again. Of course, his second thought had been the realization that she was now entirely off limits.

If he'd been a stronger man, he'd just let it go. It was supposed to have been a one night stand from the beginning, just a distraction for the evening – but she was so _distracting_.

He didn't usually indulge in porn, but tonight seemed to call for it when everything in his room was reminding him that he was alone and the night before he'd been with a beautiful girl. He felt weirdly dirty as he ordered a movie on the television in his room but who was to know? It only took a few minutes before he had Lusty Librarians VI playing. It was a fairly straightforward plot (insomuch as it had a plot). It was a series of clips of women in tight sweaters and thick glasses being bent over desks and seated on rolling library carts while a series of interchangeable men fucked them in uncomfortable looking positions. Still, it was enough to get him hard and he took himself out and started stroking himself slowly. There was no need to rush, he had an hour of librarians to get through and no other plans.

He was maybe ten minutes into his movie when he heard a knock on the door. It felt like being a teenager getting caught with his pants down. He panicked and leapt to his feet, tucking himself back into his pajamas quickly, muted the movie, and dashed towards the door to see who it could be. Belle was standing on the other side of the door and he opened it quickly. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and leggings, and had an overnight bag over her shoulder.

"Hey," she said with a sweet smile. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, sure," he replied, stepping back so she could walk past him. She froze for a second looking at the television and he realized that his porn was still on the television and a brunette with her bra around her waist and her miniskirt over her hips was on her knees giving a blowjob in the library stacks.

"Sorry," he muttered, rushing past her to turn the television off just too slow to get it off before the actress was coated in semen. It was going to be a bad, bad night.

After the movie was off, they were quiet for a few long moments before he could finally face her. She was biting her lower lip and the corners of her mouth were twisted up in amusement. At least she wasn't offended, but he was still humiliated.

"I just wanted to apologize," she said at last.

"What for?"

"I think I was a little out of line this afternoon," she replied. "Your situation with Neal really isn't my business aside from him being my roommate and I shouldn't have said anything about it. I can only say that I was hot and tired and cranky."

"Oh, that?" he said, trying hard to figure out what she could have thought he was offended by. "There's no reason to apologize. You didn't say anything that was untrue."

She smiled and shifted her bag on her shoulder and he suddenly realized she was packed for something.

"Are you going someplace?" he asked, pointing to the bag.

"Oh, this? Yeah, Neal has is awful girlfriend staying over tonight so I thought I'd see if I could crash with some friends."

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat at her words. She wasn't expected back home tonight. Maybe not even until she finished work the next evening. He blamed the movie he'd been watching, because when all his blood was in his brain he was sure he would make better choices.

"I hope that your friend's place isn't too far away," he said at last.

"It's kind of inconvenient," she replied coyly. "Sure lives across town so I have to take the train to get there and back."

"You could –" he couldn't believe he was doing this – "I mean, why don't you just stay here tonight. If you'd like to, I mean."

"That would be a lot closer," she replied, biting her lip again and he just wanted to know what that lip would taste like between his own teeth. "Are you sure it wouldn't be a problem for you?"

"Not at all. There's plenty of room."

"That sounds great," she said with a big smile. "Do you mind if I take a quick bath, then? I'm still kind of sore from this afternoon and last night and I didn't get a chance to take one before Tamara came over."

Oh, good. She was going to be naked and soapy and five feet away from him. There was no way this was going to end well. He nodded and she smiled at him again and sauntered into the bathroom like she owned the place leaving him to collect his wits while she filled the tub and did whatever else she had to do to prepare for the evening. It wasn't even that late. He hadn't had dinner yet, and there was a naked wet woman in his bathtub who was supposed to be totally off limits but somehow that just made him want her more.

He tried to distract himself by looking at the room service menu, because as a general rule once you've ordered porn in a hotel you're settled in for the night, but his brain was just failing to function in even the simplest tasks that didn't involve picturing what Belle was doing in there.

He must have been reading the menu longer than he thought, because when she finally emerged from the bathroom in a satin robe and hopefully something else underneath he was surprised to see her.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay tonight," she said. "I'd still be in my way to Ruby's if you hadn't."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "I was going to order room service. Did you want anything?"

"I am a little hungry. I haven't had anything to eat since brunch."

They ordered and sat quietly waiting for the food to arrive. She didn't seem any more able to figure out what to say than he was. It was just so unbelievably awkward. Now that he'd calmed down a little bit he really wasn't sure what the hell he'd been thinking inviting her to stay over. Maybe she hadn't meant she wanted to stay over _like that_ , but even if she had meant that it wasn't a good idea to invite his son's best friend to stay over. The first time was an accident, this time was not. Granted, he wasn't going to admit to any of this anyway, so in a way it was a moot point.

Food came and they talked, but it wasn't their easy conversation of the previous night or even the frantic awkwardness of earlier in the day. He was sure he was overthinking, but he was still on the verge of telling her that it had been a bad idea when she stood up and sat next to him on the tiny hotel couch. She smelled like roses and hotel soap and he was sure now that there wasn't much underneath her robe when she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the side of his jaw delicately.

"Just promise me this never leaves this room," she whispered and if there was one thing he could promise it was that he wouldn't tell anyone – no one would believe him if he did.

He nodded and her eyes lit up as she stretched up to kiss him again, and he was probably an idiot but he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her into his lap and kissed her back. She was a terrible idea, but he was stuck on her.


	3. Chapter 3

Post coital Joshua Gold was a great reminder of why she'd code named him Mr. Good Mood. He was so relaxed afterward, and it relaxed her to be there. Or maybe it was the multiple orgasms. Either way, she felt a million times better lying naked in a hotel bed. He was next to her looking equally sated and just as cute as she'd remembered him being.

"I feel better," she said at last, rolling over to face him. "That was exactly what I needed."

"I'm glad," he said with a little half grin. God, he had a cute grin.

"How about you?" she asked. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I don't know that they're worth paying for," he replied. "I was just thinking how pretty you look and how unbelievable it is that you came back."

"I don't think it's so unbelievable. I had a good time last night."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied. "You do good work."

He started laughing and leaned back against his pillow. She followed him so she could lean over him and watch his face while they talked.

"I'm not kidding!" she continued. "I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't satisfied the first time, you know."

"Why _did_ you come back?" he asked. "I don't buy for a second that you didn't have anywhere else to go."

"My friend really does live across town, you know," she replied. "So it wouldn't have been nearly as convenient. But this was my first choice. I thought this would be a much better way to spend the evening than watching TV with three other girls."

"Spending the evening with your roommate's dad?"

"Nah," she said. "With this hot guy I met at a bar."

He chuckled again and leaned up to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered closed and she pressed against him to keep the kiss going as long as possible before they finally broke apart and she fell to her pillow with a contented sigh.

"I need a drink," he said. "Do you want one?"

"Sure," she replied, waiting for him to put on boxers and climb out of bed to go get things from the minibar. "Hey, did Neal ever tell you what I'm getting my Masters in?"

"He may have," he replied. "But if he did I forgot, I'm sorry."

She wrapped the sheet around her chest and sat up on her knees as he came back with little bottles of liquor and mixers.

"Why?" he asked, handing her a drink. "What's your degree in?"

"Library science."

She thought he might spit out his makeshift cocktail, but he held it together to look at her with an absolutely incredulous look on his face.

"Are you serious?"

"I am," she said. "Just seemed like something you might find interesting."

He opened his mouth to respond, but her phone started going off and she groaned and rolled over to grab it off the nightstand. It was Neal asking where she was, and half of her wanted to let him stew, but the other half was pretty sure it'd be more trouble than it was worth to ignore him.

 _With a friend_ , she texted back.

 _Tell Ruby hi_ was the response and she rolled her eyes. If he was gonna pry, she was gonna have some fun.

 _I'm with Mr. Good Mood_ , she sent back. _But I'll tell him my roommate hopes he has a good night._

Neal replied with a string of emojis and she smiled and silenced her phone, setting it back on the end table.

"Who was that?" Joshua asked.

"Just Neal," she replied. "He wanted to know where I was."

"What'd you tell him?"

"I told him you said hi."

He scowled at her a little and she smiled and rolled back over him again.

"I think I have another hour before I should be asleep," she said as suggestively as she could manage. "Any ideas on what I can do to pass the time?"

Somehow, having dinner with Neal lost some of its lustre when he knew his son was just going to beg him for money. He knew at least part of this was his fault. He'd spoiled Neal by never expecting him to do more than get by, and now they were both paying the price (in his case, quite literally).

"Hey Dad," Neal said cheerfully as soon as he arrived. "How are you liking Brooklyn so far?"

"I can understand why you like it," Gold replied, because _I haven't seen much of it besides your roommate_ lacked some subtlety and wasn't going to make this evening any better.

"That's great," Neal said. "I'm glad you're having a good time."

Well, _that_ was certainly true enough. They sat and made awkward small talk while flipping through the menu and Gold couldn't help but wonder what Neal was going to throw out as justification here.

"Okay, Dad, so I know that you're worried about this new major, but I've done some research and I think you'll be happy about the prospects I found."

"It's not about the job prospects, Neal," Gold said. "I just want you to _finish_ something."

This seemed to bring Neal up short. He'd clearly been anticipating resistance about his choice of major, not the fact that it was yet _another_ degree change when he'd already had so many.

"Were you not ready for college?" Gold asked when his son didn't say anything. "Should you have done a gap year?"

"No, it's not that," Neal said quickly. "I like college, I'm glad I went. I was ready."

"Okay, so why can't you commit to a major?"

"I can!"

"Then do it, son. It doesn't _matter_ what, just finish one. I don't care which one it is."

Neal looked a little surprised, but he nodded and the waitress came with their drinks and conversation stalled.

"I'm not _trying_ to be a fuck up," Neal said after a little while. "It's just a really big decision."

"It is," Gold said. "But I'm not helping you by paying you to bounce between majors and stay in college for the rest of your life."

"No," Neal said quickly. "You can't cut me off! I can't afford school alone."

"I'm not cutting you off – yet. I'll keep paying your school and rent for two more years, but nothing else. You're going to need to get a job, and if you're going to change your major again you'll need to figure out another way to pay for it."

Neal seemed on the verge of protesting, but seemed to think better of it. It was entirely fair, and Neal was smart enough to know that he wasn't going to get any sympathy from anyone. It was the most fair solution he could possibly think of to give his son the chance to ease into adulthood on his terms.

"So how long are you going to be in town now that you've decided on that?" Neal asked.

"Probably another week or so," Gold said. "I have some other things to take care of, but I'll be here if you need anything."

"I might need help with a resume."

Belle was tired and her feet hurt when she got home, but the first thing she saw when she walked through the door was Neal lurking on their sofa.

"Hey," he said too cheerfully. "Is your job hiring?"

"No, why?"

"Crap. Do you know anywhere that is?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I think the bar at the corner might be. What's up?"

"My dad is going to keep paying for school and my portion of the rent but he says I have to get a job to cover the rest of it."

"Oh, well that's good."

Neal shot her a dirty look.

"He's paying your part of the rent at least, which is what you were worried about. You're still better off than me."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said. "But thanks for coming with me for brunch. He's always an easier sell when there's someone else there."

"Don't mention it," Belle replied, because really what else could she say? She'd fucked his dad twice now, and after that she really did not want him thanking her for spending time around the man.

"Hey I didn't get a chance to ask how your date went," he said.

"It wasn't a date, we just ran into each other again is all."

"Still, though, you're not usually the type to meet a guy twice in two days. Could this be _the one?_ "

"I sincerely doubt it. Neither one of us is in a good place for anything like that."

"So you're just gonna let it go?"

"I think that's probably for the best. Now, can we stop talking about my love life and start talking about where you went for dinner? I'm starving and there better be leftovers."

"In the fridge," he said. "It may end up being a good week for leftovers. My dad decided to stay in town a few more days, so I'll see if I can talk him into taking us out again if you want."

Belle froze with the styrofoam container in her hand.

"Why?" she asked as normally as she could. "I thought he was just in town to work this out."

"Hell if I know. He said he had some other things to take care of, so probably some old painting or something he's trying to buy for a client. Hey, can I put you down as a reference on my resume?"

"Yeah, sure."

She couldn't decide if she hoped it was because of her or not. It was really flattering to think that he might have made arrangements just to spend more time with _her_ , but at the same time they both knew this was a bad idea all around. He was still her friend's father, and she was still too busy for men.

Luckily, Neal was way too distracted with his computer to to notice the change in her mood, but it lingered the rest of the night. Her phone finally beeped with a new text, and when she picked it up her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of his number.

 _How was work?_

 _Not awful,_ she sent back. _Boring, though. Last night was a lot more fun_.

She saw the little notification that he was typing flash on and off a few times before he replied.

 _Can I call you?_

 _Probably not a great idea. I'm not alone._

 _Oh. Right. Can we get coffee or something tomorrow? I think we need to talk._

 _Yeah, sure. There's a cafe by your hotel that we never go to – might be a good choice._

 _That sounds good. Is nine too early?_

 _Can we make it ten? I just got home._

 _Ten works. I'll see you then._

She sighed and locked her phone screen.

"I'm going to bed," she said to Neal who barely acknowledged her exit.

Why did things have to be so confusing and weird? She _did_ like Joshua, but their situation was absolutely crazy. There was no way it was going to end with anything but Neal hating them both, but it had been such a long time since she'd really liked a guy enough to go out with him again.

As much as Neal liked to tease her about her one night stands, it wasn't always a sex things. A lot of them were just guys she talked to for the night before deciding she didn't want anything else to do with them, and they weren't _all_ that much older than her. Older men tended to be less complicated (at least until now) and much less likely to need her to take care of them. That was really what she didn't have time for, if she was being honest. She didn't have the time, energy, or inclination towards dating a guy like Neal who still needed so much adult supervision. She was only interested in men who had their lives together and knew what they were doing. That was really her 'type' insomuch as she had one – she just liked it when relationships were easy and drama free, and this one was neither so why was she so, so intrigued by Joshua Gold?


	4. Chapter 4

Belle was going to get used to going to nice places, and that was really a bad idea. She didn't usually go to this particular cafe because coffee here cost roughly twice as much as it did at the coffee shop on her way to work, but oh man they made the best pastries in town and she was totally willing to let somebody else buy them for her. It had, however, meant dressing like a Real Housewife of Brooklyn in order to not stand out for all the wrong reasons.

"You look nice," Joshua said once they were seated and she couldn't help but feel a little bit flattered by it even though she was pretty sure he'd have said that no matter what she was wearing.

"Thank you," she replied. "And thank you for coffee."

"I'm just happy you agreed to meet me. I think we probably have some things to discuss."

"One or two," she admitted. "So what's up?"

He was awkwardly stirring his coffee and not looking at her, and she just hoped he wasn't planning on asking her to come clean to Neal about what had been going on. That was going to have to be her line in the sand on this one, and it would be a dumb idea on both their behalfs.

"I don't think we should keep…" his voice trailed off and he wasn't looking at her. Oh man, this was going to be long.

"Having sex?"

"Yeah, that."

"Who said we were going to?"

That was mean of her, but he had literally asked her to coffee to break up with her when they weren't actually dating and it was too much fun to make him squirm. Joshua froze and began blinking rapidly.

"I, uh...that is, um…" he was stammering and blinking so fast she was a little afraid that he might be having a stroke. "I didn't mean to suggest...I just…"

"Look, I had fun," she said, deciding to show him some mercy. "But we're not dating or anything. You didn't have to invite me out so you could let me down easy. I don't really have time to date anyone seriously."

"Oh," he replied. He almost sounded disappointed, and suddenly this whole conversation seemed to be getting turned around. He'd just said he _didn't_ want to have sex with her anymore. What the actual?

"Still, it was fun," she said. "But don't worry, I'm not going to be weird about it. That's not really my style."

"Good. I'm glad we got that worked out."

They sat in silence for awhile longer sipping coffee. It was awkward as hell, but Belle wasn't about to leave her napoleon behind just to escape how weird this was – this place was expensive and she was poor. A girl had to have standards. Finally, he drained his coffee and made a show of looking at his watch.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I have to go. I have a meeting soon. It was...really nice seeing you again, Belle."

"It was nice seeing you," she said, and it wasn't really a lie. She liked him, but they'd both known going into this that it was a temporary thing.

He didn't ask her for anything before he left, and she didn't expect him to. They'd had a nice time, and it was over and it had ended as well as she could have expected it to. It was a nice conclusion to a fun weekend.

Joshua still felt bad about how things had gone with Belle. He didn't really know how he'd expected her to react, but somehow he hadn't expected her to not care. He kind of felt like an asshole, to be honest – he'd made a big fuss over what turned out to be nothing, and he hadn't even returned her compliment about enjoying their time together. He was an asshole, and he owed her an apology.

He was an asshole, who owed her an apology and who also didn't trust himself to be in a room with her alone again. Belle was too attractive, and he was too weak. He apparently couldn't be alone with her without it leading to sex, and that was such a bad idea. He _had_ to stop sleeping with her. Or at least he had to stop sleeping with her as long as she was living with Neal. So that was an idea. Maybe Neal could be talked into moving in with his girlfriend or moving back home – or maybe Joshua could be a goddamn adult about this.

Flowers, he decided as he walked back to his hotel. Flowers were never a bad choice, and most importantly flowers could be delivered to her house by someone other than him. There was a florist on the corner a few blocks from his hotel, and he ducked in before he could second guess himself.

The shop was staffed by a bored looking girl behind the counter. She was probably Neal and Belle's age with long black hair and dark skin. She was looking at her phone, which she shoved under the counter as soon as she realized she wasn't alone. It was fairly straightforward to order a dozen roses sent to Belle. When it came time to send the card, he was smart enough to write the note with his left hand and leave it unsigned though he almost forgot himself when a man who turned out to be the delivery boy came in and immediately kissed the girl who was taking his order. It was a little distracting, but not really any of his business. He had enough going on with his aborted love affair with his son's best friend he didn't particularly care to get involved in the day-to-day of whatever these two had going on.

She finally waved the delivery boy off and got the address for delivery and helped him select a vase for his roses. Joshua paid and left, but not before he saw the delivery boy touch the cashier's ass as though they were alone and she giggled and swatted him away slightly. It was kind of awkward, but having sent the flowers he felt a lot better about the whole situation with Belle.

Belle had some errands to run after her coffee breakup, but she was feeling pretty cheerful by the time she finally forced her way through the door with a couple bags of groceries and a new book that she didn't technically need but had wanted anyway.

"Don't worry," she teased Neal as he sat at the table with a pile of papers in front of him. "This isn't heavy _at all_."

"Good," he replied. "I'd hate to think you lugged heavy bags all the way from the store and up three flights of stairs because you forgot the stupid rolling cart again."

She stuck her tongue out at him and set the bags down on the counter before she started stocking the cabinets.

"You got flowers," he said in a teasing sing-song and she spun around to see the vase she hadn't paid any attention to sitting on the table next to him. It was a beautiful arrangements of roses in all different colors in a blue and gold vase.

Oh no. Oh no, no no. There was only one person in the entire world who might send her flowers and he couldn't be that completely stupid, could he?

"Is there a card?" she asked as casually as she could.

"Yep."

"Did you read it?"

"Of course."

She whimpered, and practically ran to the table to grab the card to see what she was going to have to explain. It was simple, plain white with a simple border and some distressingly messy handwriting.

 _Belle, thank you for the last few days. I'm sorry for how things ended with us. Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance. Yours,_ and then he had signed it with an X. It could have been worse, but it had still been amazingly risky to send it. What on Earth had he been thinking?

"You must have really liked this one," Neal said as he made a mark on one of his papers.

"What do you mean?"

"You gave this one your real name _and_ address" he continued. "What did he mean about how things ended?"

Belle felt her cheeks color as she folded the card back into her palm and pressed it into the skirt of her dress. The flowers were beautiful. They were completely ridiculous and unnecessary, but oh goodness they were beautiful. That silly, foolish man.

"It's no big deal," she finally said. "More a misunderstanding than anything else."

"Too bad," he replied. "You've been happier the last couple days."

Neal wanted Joshua to meet his girlfriend Tamara, so he was taking them to dinner. It was only right. He'd taken Neal and Belle to brunch, now he was taking his son's actual girlfriend to dinner. Besides, he was still in town a few days more and he owed it to Neal to spend at least as much time with him as he had with his roommate.

He was determined to like Tamara. From what he understood, she was another student. They'd met in one of his Chinese Philosophy classes, though for her it was an elective instead of a core requirement. He really didn't know much beyond that, and it struck him now that he should. He'd been far too fixated on Belle and that whole situation, and now that it was over he was free to be a father.

Neal and Tamara were already at the table when he arrived, though their backs were to him. His first impression of Tamara when he approached was a head of black hair and a flash of dark skin. By the time he rounded the table, he had a flash of recognition that he couldn't quite place. He was wracking his brain trying to figure out how he would know a college student from Brooklyn (who he _definitely had not slept with this time_ ) when it finally hit him: the cashier at the florist, the one who had been kissing the delivery boy.

"Hey Dad," Neal said cheerfully. "This is Tamara. Tamara, this is my dad Joshua Gold."

Joshua shook hands with her numbly. She was cheating on his son, and she had to know the address he'd sent the roses to. He knew her secret, and she knew his. Just exactly how many women lived in Brooklyn? Wasn't this supposed to be a city, for God's sake? Was he going to encounter every single woman his son knew and have some awful secret with all of them before the week was out?

He had no idea what to even do. How was he going to explain how he'd seen Tamara and her coworker without also telling Neal that he'd slept with Belle often enough that he'd sent her flowers? What did one even do in this sort of situation? He was going to have to talk to Belle again, that much was painfully clear. Maybe she'd have some idea of how this could be dealt with, because right now he was entirely at a loss.


	5. Chapter 5

Belle was still at work when she got the text from Joshua asking if she could come meet him someplace to talk. Holy shit, he was so bad at breaking up with girls.

 _I'm working tonight,_ she shot back.

 _Tomorrow? It's important – about Neal._

Oh damn. There was only one important thing about Neal that he could possibly want to talk to her about and Belle did not want to think about it. She had never had so much trouble with a one night stand before.

 _I can do tomorrow. Is it something I need to know about before I go home?_

 _No,_ came the reply. _It can wait._

So Neal hadn't figured it out yet, so that was good. Still, there was nothing good that could come of any of this and she'd need to be painfully alert when she got home. Next time she met a guy in a bar she was going to make sure she got a total geneology before anything happened.

By the time she got home that night her feet were killing her and her nerves were shot, but Neal was over the moon with his own news that he'd been hired at the bar on the corner. He was chattering aimlessly about what he'd be doing at the bar and how much fun it would be to be there. Personally, Belle wasn't quite so convinced that waiter at a pub was going to be quite as thrilling as he thought it would but it had at least distracted him from noticing she was uncomfortable.

Joshua's flowers were still on her dresser when she went in to change for bed. She stroked one of the roses aimlessly. They really were pretty and he'd done a good job choosing them. The vase was lovely as well. It was mottled blue with gold painted on it in a vaguely Japanese style. She loved it. It had been perfectly chosen for her even if he hadn't known of it at the time.

His taste was impeccable, but she'd known that even when she met him. His clothes were perfect, which is what had first attracted her to him. He was drinking top shelf liquor and he'd ordered her a cocktail made with rum so smooth she could have cried. It had been an easy choice to go back to his hotel and let the fantasy that this was her life play out just a little bit longer. It had been fun, and now it was supposed to be over but somehow it just didn't seem to want to end. Maybe she didn't want it to end, either.

Once she was in bed, it took her awhile to finally fall asleep. For the first time in a long time, she was starting to feel like something was missing and the idea of what that might be was as unsettling as the feeling itself.

The next day as she knocked on the door to Joshua's hotel room she was prepared for just about anything. She was absolutely _not_ going to sleep with him, that was for sure. She'd even dug out a pair of Halloween panties from the back of her drawer just to be absolutely sure that he wouldn't see them. Whatever he wanted to talk about, she was going to make sure that they _just_ talked.

"Thank you for coming," he said once he opened the door. "I know it was awfully short notice, especially considering our last conversation."

"It's fine," she said, stepping into the room. "What's up?"

"Tamara is cheating on Neal."

He said it so quickly that she didn't register his words immediately.

"That _bitch_ ," Belle exclaimed on a reflex. She'd known there was something wrong with her from the start and having her worst opinions confirmed gave her an awful sense of satisfaction "What did Neal say when you told him?"

"I didn't tell him yet."

"How could you not?"

"Did _you_ know she works at the flower shop on the corner?"

Belle's head was spinning at the abrupt change of subject.

"What the hell does that... _oh my God._ My flowers?"

"Yep," he replied, sitting down the sofa and gesturing for her to join him. "I didn't know who she was until I met her at dinner. I thought she was just a very unprofessional cashier who was sleeping with a coworker...and not being very subtle about it."

"So you sent me flowers to my home address which I share with your son _and_ put my name on the card _and_ basically thanked me for a good time _and_ you got them from _Tamara_?" She covered her face with her hands and leaned back into the sofa. "Good lord, this is supposed to be a major city. Can't you run into any women who don't know your son?"

"That was my exact first reaction, too," he replied. "But anyway, I have to tell Neal."

"You do. Oh man, this is going to be awful."

"It is, because I'm going to have to tell him why I was ordering flowers."

Which meant he would have to tell Neal about her as well.

"We should figure out what to tell him," she said. "It will make it easier."

"That was my instinct as well. Also, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather just admit to the first time. We didn't know who we were, there wasn't anything we could have done."

"Right, that's a good idea. Except he already knows I saw that same guy again just not that it was you. Remember? He texted me while we were in bed."

"Shit. I'd forgotten about that."

"If we have to own once, we have to own twice."

"I think we both know it was more like four times."

"Okay well you don't have to tell _him_ that."

"No, you're right," he said. "Sorry. I just...I don't do this sort of thing a lot."

She couldn't help but smile at his obvious pride in the whole matter. Men were so amusing.

"We're going to have to tell him something," she said. "It was all an awful mistake?"

"Awful?" he asked, sounding vaguely affronted.

"Do you _want_ to go into details with your son?"

"Still, awful?"

"It wasn't awful," she said. "I told you I had fun. I just wasn't planning on giving Neal any details beyond what I already gave him."

"What did you tell him?"

"Well, the first day – before I knew who _you_ were – I was very complimentary. Of course, in hindsight I wish I'd left it alone, but still."

His pupils had gone wide with something that looked a lot like lust and turned his brown eyes nearly black. Oh, damn her, she should change the subject back to someplace safe so they could get on with this but she was already going to be busted about having slept with him twice what could a third time possibly hurt? It was the afternoon, that barely even counted.

"I did have fun," she said as sweetly as she could manage. "I'd do it again if it weren't such a bad idea."

His eyes darted to her lips and he didn't seem to be able to stop swallowing. She was totally in.

"It is a bad idea," he said quietly as she slid closer to him. "So, so bad."

"The worst idea," she whispered as she leaned in closer. "It's not right, it's completely off-limits."

He groaned and closed the distance between them in an instant. It shouldn't feel so satisfying to seduce a man she'd already had sex with multiple times over the last few days, but something about not being allowed to have him made her want him more, and she was determined to have him. She was sick of being alone so much and he made her feel just a little bit less alone.

"I won't tell," she promised. "Nobody has to know about this one. It can be just for us."

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her to deepen the kiss. This was such a bad idea. They were supposed to be discussing how to make this affair seem less serious than it was, not doubling down on it. She was going to have to get out of these damn panties without him seeing them if she really planned to go all the way with this, and she couldn't think of anything she wanted more.

She pushed him down and on the sofa and wiggled out of her damn seasonal panties as quickly as she could and tossed them away before she moved up to straddle his hips. Joshua was looking awestruck at her as she leaned down over him and pressed her lips to his again. He had his hands in her hair before he ran them down her body to her hips. This was going to be great, and this time she wouldn't make the mistake of linking it in. There was no way they would be caught this time and no reason they'd ever have to own up to it.

It took her a few moments to realize that someone was knocking on the door, and Joshua seemed to realize a split second after she did if the way his hands froze on her hips was anything to go by. The knock came again, and Joshua recovered first.

"Who is it?" he called out with a hoarse voice.

"It's me, Dad," Neal's voice came from the hallway. "Let me in!"

" _Fuck,_ " Belle whispered under her breath as she climbed off of Joshua. "What do we do?"

They both looked around frantically and he started straightening himself up.

"The bathroom?" he said.

"What if he goes in there?"

"Then just act natural. He doesn't have to know anything is going on."

"He will when we tell him about the sex!"

She could hear her voice squeaking in her panic, but she didn't care. She was seconds away from getting shoved in a closet.

"Fire escape!" he said quickly. "Get out on the fire escape."

She didn't even have time to come up with a reason that was a bad idea, as he opened the window and let her out onto the metal fire escape. It wasn't until she felt the breeze under her skirt that she remembered she'd left her panties in the hotel room.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Neal asked as soon as his dad opened the door.

"Sorry. I was just...getting dressed."

Neal wasn't sure he wanted to know too much more about that, since his dad wasn't wet from the shower and it was early afternoon so he hadn't been asleep. He'd been acting really weird this entire trip, to be honest.

"Can we talk?" Neal asked.

"It's not a great time right now. Can we get dinner later?"

"It won't take long," Neal replied as he walked into the room. "I just wanted to tell you thanks for staying in town so long. I know you had other stuff to do at home, but I appreciate that you hung out to help me get back on my feet."

"Oh, it's no problem," his dad said. "You don't need to thank me for that."

"Well, it still means a lot to me," Neal said. "I also wanted to ask what you think of Tamara."

His dad looked out the window quickly before looking back at Neal and then to the bed and then everywhere else.

"I wanted to talk to you about that," he said at last. "But can we get dinner later and talk about it then?"

Neal had no idea why his dad was acting so weird.

"Come on, Dad," he said, sitting on one of the chairs. "What can you possibly not like about her? She's smart, she's got a job, and she's beautiful."

"This just isn't a good time for me."

Neal was about to push again, but when he looked toward his father a flash of color caught his eye.

"Oh my God, Dad, are those panties?"

His father's eyes got huge as he followed Neal's line of sight to the brightly colored orange and black cotton crumpled at the foot of the bed.

"Do you have a girl here?" Neal asked, trying to keep from laughing uncontrollably at the idea of his straight laced father having met a woman and brought her to his hotel room.

"Neal, can we _please_ discuss this later?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Neal said as he leapt to his feet. "We can have dinner or whatever. I don't keep you."

His father looked absolutely miserable, but Neal was loving this as he let himself out of the room and made his way back to the apartment. Imagine, his father of all people having some hot fling in Brooklyn. God, this was great. He was never going to let it go.

It wasn't until Belle came home a few hours later and he tried to talk to her about what had happened that things all came together. She said she had a headache and went to take a shower and then to lay down. Whatever, he'd get all the details at dinner and talk to her about it then. It was just too good to believe.

He went to pee before he left and after Belle had gone to her room, and that was when he noticed something that he was sure hadn't been there before – a pair of black and orange cotton panties sitting on top of the dirty clothes in the hamper.

Oh. Oh shit.


	6. Chapter 6

Belle just wanted to go to bed and pretend like her life wasn't about to change forever. After she'd climbed back through the hotel room window she and Joshua had talked and decided he'd tell Neal what had happened over dinner. It felt like she was waiting for her execution, but they had thought that she might be a distraction in the immediate aftermath, so all she could do was sit at home and wait. She'd put a movie on her laptop and was curled up in bed in pajamas when Neal knocked on the door. He hadn't even left the apartment yet, what could he possibly need?

"What's up?" she called out from her bed. She didn't feel like getting up unless she absolutely needed to and him not knowing where his house key was didn't feel like an emergency.

"I need to ask you a question," he replied through the door.

"Hold on," she said, prying herself out of her bed and swinging the door open.

Neal was standing there with her panties hanging from a pair of kitchen tongs and she didn't even have time to register what that could possibly mean before he spoke.

"Did you fuck my dad?"

She couldn't even figure out what to say to that. She wanted to deny it, but it was true but this wasn't the plan.

"Oh my God you did!" he exclaimed, dropping the panties and tongs at her feet and covering his face with his hands. "If you hadn't you would have said no! Oh my _God_ how could you do it?"

"I didn't know who he was!" she said quickly.

"You mean that you did it _before_? I just knew about today."

"It was a huge misunderstanding."

"A _misunderstanding_? How does that even work? You said pass the salt and he thought you asked to go back to his hotel room?"

"Oh shut up," she snapped. "You don't get to judge me about this!"

"Don't get on your high horse about this," he shot back. "How would you feel if I had sex with your mom?"

That was too far for Belle, and before her higher brain function could stop her, she hauled off and slapped him across the face. Neal looked stunned, holding his hand to his cheek as his brain caught up to what he'd said.

"Oh, right," he said. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about that."

She blinked back her tears and nodded her acceptance of his apology stiffly. She could hardly stand to look at him between the freshly reopened wound of her mother's death and the bright red handprint on his face.

"You should talk to your dad," she said without looking at him. "He had something else to tell you and I don't really want to talk to you right now."

"Okay," he said stiffly. "I'll probably stay with Tamara tonight."

"No, don't," Belle replied quickly. "I'll be gone when you get back. Just – you can stay here. Just talk to your dad first, okay?"

She couldn't be the one to break that news to Neal. Not after everything else that had happened. he nodded and looked sad as she shut the door, but she couldn't feel bad for him tonight.

Belle heard the door slam when Neal left, and she grabbed her phone to send a text to Joshua letting him know that Neal knew, and then another one to Ruby asking if she could stay a couple days until things settled down. She was going to have to tell her friend about the whole sordid affair, but that was a small price to pay.

Waiting for Neal to arrive after he got Belle's text message felt a lot like waiting for the firing squad to arrive, and Joshua was on edge until he finally heard the knock on the door of the hotel room. God, how could a _knock_ sound so angry?

Neal brushed past Joshua without looking once the door was open and Joshua knew this was going to be incredibly unpleasant.

"You slept with Belle," Neal said. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I did," Joshua said.

" _How_?" Neal asked. " _Why_? She is young enough to be your daughter!"

"I'd noticed," Joshua replied. "Trust me, it's hard to miss."

"So, what? Now you're one of those guys who hangs out at bars buying drinks for college students until closing time?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Then what? Midlife crisis? Should I look forward to you buying a Porsche next?"

"Neal, you're acting like a child."

"Well, you're acting like a teenager so I guess we're even."

"Belle is an adult. I didn't take advantage of her and beyond that it's not really any of your business. Neither one of us knew who the other one was the first time and it's not like we did this maliciously to spite you."

"It's just _gross_ ," Neal exclaimed as he collapsed onto the sofa dramatically. "Are we going to start being competition for the same girls? How long until they're even younger than me?"

"It's not like that," Joshua replied. "It's not like I'm going out on the prowl or hunting for a trophy wife. This is the closes thing to a date I've been on in years and now it's over, okay?"

Neal was still clearly sulking, but he looked suitably chastened.

"Do you like her?" he asked. "You can be honest, I won't yell."

"I do," Joshua replied. "But I like you more and it's not worth you being upset."

"And if I wasn't in the picture you'd keep seeing her?"

"It's not quite that simple," Joshua said as he sat across from his son. "I'm in Maine and she's here."

"Right," Neal said. "Belle said you had something else to tell me."

"Believe it or not, there is a less pleasant portion of this conversation."

"What? Don't tell me you got her pregnant," Neal said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm not helping raise that baby."

"No, nothing like that." Joshua took a deep breath, trying to brace himself for this one. "After I figured out who Belle was I sent her flowers to apologize."

"Right, the roses."

"Well, I bought them from a girl who turned out to be Tamara, although I didn't know _that_ until dinner."

"Don't tell me you slept with her too," Neal said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well," Joshua said with a sigh. " _I_ didn't…"

"What are you saying?"

"There was another man there – I think he did the deliveries. And they seemed very...close."

"Yeah, that's Greg, her roommate. I think he might be gay."

"Unless Tamara is keeping a really big secret, I'm going to have to disagree."

"Why? What did you see?"

"They were...very friendly," Joshua said. This was ridiculous, he needed to just come out and say it.

"Friendly?"

"They kissed, and not in the way you might kiss a friend who happens to be gay."

The two men sat in silence. Joshua had no idea what to say, and Neal wasn't reacting to any of it.

"And you hid it from me," Neal said at last. "So that I wouldn't know about you and Belle."

"I didn't hide it. I just wasn't sure how to tell you. I couldn't exactly announce it at dinner last night."

"So you waited a day, asked Belle over, had sex in your hotel room, and then told me that you think my girlfriend is cheating on me."

"I called Belle over to ask her opinion on how to tell you about all this, and we didn't have sex."

"Oh come off it, Dad, her panties were on the floor next to your bed. If you didn't, it wasn't from a lack of interest."

"You're right," Joshua admitted. "But I'm not lying to you, Neal. I saw what I saw."

"I can't talk about this right now," Neal said, leaping to his feet. "I can't. This is just...this is too much."

"Neal, I'm sorry," Joshua called out but his son didn't even turn around, he just kept walking until he was gone.

"You slept with Neal's dad?" Ruby shrieked cheerfully. "Oh my gosh I can't believe this! Well, I can because it's you, but still!"

"Don't start," Belle scolded, throwing a pillow at her friend. "I had an affair with my roommate's father. It's not funny."

"Oh come off it, Belle, you know it's ridiculous."

It was ridiculous, but Belle may have lost one of her best friends to all this and she couldn't quite laugh about it yet.

"It was just the worst luck," Belle said at last as she flopped down in Ruby's bed. She always spent the night in Ruby's bed when she slept over, it wasn't like there was a guest bedroom for her, after all. "He was really good in bed, and really nice to me."

"And what else do you need in a man?" Ruby asked as she laid down next to Belle.

"Well, lots of things, but it was a good start, wasn't it?"

"It sounds like it," Ruby replied sympathetically. "But you know better than all that."

"I do, but still. It's disappointing, you know? I had a good time with him, and you know I love Neal. And now it's all up in the air. It's awful."

"Buck up, buttercup," Ruby said with an affectionate tap on Belle's nose. "You can stay here until Neal settles down. Just don't expect me to put out."

"Yeah, yeah," Belle said through her giggles. "See, that's why the last time I had to clear out I went to _his_ room and not yours."

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't appreciate the extra body heat in the bed."

"Of course."

Ruby smiled and rolled over, and Belle was about to settle down to go to sleep when her phone beeped with a message. She sighed and grabbed it off the nightstand – there was a message from Neal and she braced herself as she opened it.

 _Sorry about overreacting earlier_.

Well, that wasn't what she'd anticipated hearing.

 _Sorry for everything else,_ she sent back. _I really didn't mean it._

 _I know. But I know how you can make it up to me._

 _That sounds ominous._

"Oh my God, Belle," Ruby exclaimed. "It's late! Who can possibly be that important?"

"Neal's come around," Belle replied, ducking her phone under the blankets.

"Can't he come around in the morning?"

"I'll get rid of him."

Her phone beeped again.

"Just put it on silent and stick your head under the blanket," Ruby grumbled. "And I'm very glad you'll be home tomorrow."

"Thank you, dear," Belle replied affectionately. "I promise I'll be quiet."

Ruby mumbled something under her breath, but Belle was already absorbed with her phone again. It was another message from Neal, and her curiosity was already overwhelming her with what he could possibly want.

 _You're going on a surveillance mission. Can you see if one of the other girls can come?_

Oh man, this was turning out to be a proper stakeout. Belle should be nervous at the idea of lurking outside a flower shop in a trenchcoat with a telephoto lens, but it was just nice that her friend still loved her. A part of her wanted to text Joshua to tell him about it and ask him how his conversation had gone but she thought better of it. Things between them were supposed to be over, and if she wanted to make things okay with Neal then she needed to respect that.

Still, he had been a really good time while he lasted.


	7. Chapter 7

If it was anyone else but Neal and if she hadn't had sex with his dad, there was no way Belle would have agreed to this stakeout. Neal wasn't even there! He'd started his new job and didn't want to get spotted lurking outside his girlfriend's (ex girlfriend's?) workplace. So apparently he thought it was totally fine for his roommate to be spotted lurking outside her workplace while he was at his new job.

She'd managed to get one of Ruby's roommates to join her. She wouldn't have thought it would be possible to even pay for someone to come along on this, but Mulan had thought the very idea of getting to go spying would be a great deal of fun and had tagged along. The two girls were sitting at a table outside the cafe across the street from the florist's and drinking tea while they watched.

"What's this guy even look like?" Mulan asked Belle. "Have you ever met him?"

"No, but Neal sent me a picture from last Halloween with him in it."

She unlocked her phone and opened the picture from her text messages to show her friend.

"Okay, so he was _definitely_ the guy who left a half hour ago," Mulan said. "So now we just have to wait for him to come back."

"Thanks for coming, by the way," Belle said with a sigh. "This really would have sucked to do alone."

"No problem," Mulan replied. "I know how much it hurts to have something like this come between friends."

"You know how much accidentally sleeping with a friend's dad sucks?"

"Okay, maybe not _exactly_ , but you know, wanting someone. you can't have."

Mulan said it so sadly that Belle wasn't sure if she should deny the accusation of _wanting_ or not, but she was spared the choice when Mulan suddenly perked up.

"There he is!" she exclaimed, pointing just down the block where the man they had decided had to be Greg was heading back towards the shop.

"That is _definitely_ him," Belle confirmed, comparing the photo on her phone to the stranger. "You ready?"

"Mulan nodded, draining the rest of her chai and bounding across the street into the flower shop just ahead of Greg. They were only going to have one shot at this plan. Mulan was supposed to spend some time selecting a bouquet and texting Belle any updates on the proceedings inside, maybe with pictures if she could get one. That was going to serve as an official record for Neal so he could know exactly what he was dealing with.

Belle watched her phone like a hawk until the first message from Mulan came in. It was a thumbs up emoji, and Belle almost wished she could be inside herself. Tamara would recognize her, though. So she was stuck waiting for her friend to do the exciting part while she was stuck alone at a cafe.

 _omg they are not subtle_ , Mulan sent after a little while. _I'm surprised they haven't been caught before._

 _What's going on?_ Belle shot back.

 _Hold on, I'll send a picture._

Belle watched the little loading dots as the picture transferred. It was a little blurry and the focus wasn't great – there was a large bouquet of something in the foreground – but you could definitely make out the two of them kissing over the counter.

 _Poor Neal,_ Belle sent.

 _I know! I'm gonna see if I can get a better one, hold on._

Belle was anxiously waiting for her next picture when suddenly Mulan raced out the door of the florist's and ran off down the street. Belle grabbed her bag and hurried down the street towards where Mulan had gone.

 _Where are you?_ she sent off once she was sure she'd lost her friend.

 _In the bodega on the corner. Sorry, I got made._

She got _made_? Jesus, what was this, Law  & Order: Cheating Girlfriends Unit? Belle found the bodega and walked in, locating Mulan standing by the drink fridge with her hand over her mouth as she giggled.

"What happened?" Belle asked. "How did they see you?"

"I left the flash on my phone," Mulan said. "It was fine when I took a picture of the flowers, but when I was pretending to take a selfie so I could get them the flash went off at them. On the plus side, I got the picture!"

"What'd they say?"

"I have no idea. As soon as they looked at me I ran."

"Did you at least get a good picture?"

"Of course I did," Mulan said, almost sounding wounded by the implication that she might not have been a professional enough spy.

"Send it to me and I'll send it to Neal," Belle said. "And remind me about this the next time you need a favor."

x

The lunch rush at the bar turned out to be less a rush than it was a slow trickle. Mostly, it was solitary men eating sandwiches and drinking beer in the dark, so it really had been the perfect time to be trained. The waitress he'd been given to was a blonde girl named Emma, and he wasn't quite sure if she thought he was an idiot or not, and somehow he didn't think that _this is my first job_ was going to help her opinion of him in the slightest.

She'd gone through how to pour beer from the tap with him and then mostly left him there to get used to what everything was while she actually handled the customers. It was hard enough keeping track of all the different drinks, he really was not looking forward to mixing anything but the lunch crowd mostly ordered beer and he poured it while Emma took the orders. It was hard and his feed hurt, and he wasn't entirely sure it was going to be worth the pay he got, but he'd done it and there was a strange sort of satisfaction in being able to accomplish it.

"Come on," Emma said to him once the 'rush' had subsided. "Break time."

He followed her to the back room that they'd had him leave his phone and jacket in, and he quickly dug out his phone. He had a few missed messages from Belle and his stomach sank. They could only mean one thing, but he still had to see them.

 _Mulan saw them_ was the first thing he saw, followed by the photos. The first one was a bouquet of flowers with the two of them standing behind it and kissing over the counter, and it was bad enough, but the second one...Greg was standing behind Tamara with his arms around her and she was looking back at him affectionately. Somehow, that one was the worst of the lot. There was an intimacy to it that set him on edge. It wasn't an affair, it was a second boyfriend – or maybe he was the second himself, but either way it was like getting punched.

Neal hadn't disbelieved his father exactly, but there had been so much news in so short a time period that he'd barely been able to process what had been said. By the time he had a few moments to put it all together everything had changed. He hadn't had the heart to keep angry at Belle or his father anymore. If he didn't have them _or_ Tamara, he didn't have much else in his life. Besides, somebody had needed to do the stakeout and both Tamara and Greg would have recognized him if he'd gone. And now he needed to do the dirty work of dumping her.

"What are you looking at so intensely?" Emma asked. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

"I am breaking up with my girlfriend," he replied.

"That's kinda low, isn't it? Dumping her over text?"

"Well, considering she's been cheating on me I'm willing to be that asshole."

She raised her eyebrows in something like shock.

"How'd you find out?" she asked.

"My dad saw her making out with her roommate while he was buying flowers for my roommate to apologize for sleeping with her."

"That is nuts."

"It is," he replied as he hit send on the message he'd been composing. It was straight and to the point, a simple _I'm breaking up with you_ that he was sure was going to get a response, but let her yell. They weren't married and he had proof that she was cheating.

Of course, he couldn't quite resist needling her a little further.

 _I'd say I think we should see other people but apparently you already are._

He followed that up with the second picture Belle had sent, and he was sure she'd be freaking out by now.

"Sorry about it," Emma said. "That's pretty rough."

"You know, it is. Or at least it should be, but somehow it's almost a relief."

"Yeah?"

"I dunno, it's just like...maybe I wasn't as happy as I thought I was."

That was the part that was bugging him, to be honest. He should be angry and sad and there was a part of him that felt super petty about all of this, but at the same time...he wasn't heartbroken. It wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling, but he should be a lot more upset than he was. It still hurt, but it wasn't the overwhelming hurt that he would have expected to have. In a way, it was almost a relief.

"Well, maybe you were ready for something else," Emma said. "Sometimes it's easier to wait for something else to make a choice for us than it is to actually make it. Maybe you were just waiting for an excuse to move on."

"Maybe. Probably, actually." His phone lit up with a series of messages from Tamara and he flipped it face down on the table in front of him. He'd look at them later, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of a response yet. "I think I'm starting to get sick of letting everything else decide my life, though."

They were silent for a little while longer as his phone pinged relentlessly in the room.

"Break's over," Emma said. "But I'll buy you a drink after work and we can commiserate about shitty exes."

"Alright," he said as he locked the phone and put it back in the locker he was using. "I'll hold you to that."

x

Joshua was just finishing packing when he heard the knock on his hotel room door. He wasn't sure he wanted to even know who it was. The last few times had been rough conversations, and he didn't see this one going down much better regardless of who it was. He zipped up his suitcase and opened the door to reveal Neal standing there, looking agitated but not angry.

"Hey Dad," he said. "Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all," Joshua replied, letting his son into the room. "What can I do for you?"

"You were right," Neal said. "Tamara was cheating on me."

"I'm sorry. I know I should have told you right away, I just…"

"I don't want to talk about it. That's not why I'm here, and you weren't the one who did it."

"Then what's up?"

"Belle likes you," Neal said. "I think you should ask her out."

Somehow, in the list of ways he'd thought this conversation could go, he hadn't expected _that_.

"I'm serious," Neal continued. "She likes you, and you like her. And I don't want to be the one to make either of you unhappy."

"You know, it's not really that simple, son."

"Sure it is. Look, I know that she says she doesn't like to date but this has been different. You have to give her another chance. I know you liked her, too."

"There's still geography," Joshua replied. "And, as you pointed out yourself, we're not exactly in the same place in life."

"So you don't think you could wait a year for her?" Neal asked smugly. "How long did you wait after Mom left?"

"I can't believe we're having this conversation."

"I can't make you do it," Neal said. "And I'm not saying you have to marry her. I'm just saying that I'd hate to see you not even try. I don't want either of you to be unhappy because of me."

Joshua couldn't think of what to say. Out of all the things he'd anticipated hearing from his son, encouragement to go get the girl was just about the last thing he would have expected. Neal was nice, but he sometimes got a little into his own head.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable," Joshua said. "It's not worth it."

"I'm not saying I'm going to throw you two a party," Neal said. "And I'm not going to act like it's not still a little weird, but I'll get over that. If you like her, and she likes you, then it shouldn't be up to me to say you shouldn't do it."

Joshua didn't know what to say, so instead he pulled his son into a hug.

"You're a good son," he said. "I don't know that I've ever said that, but you are."

"Yeah, I know," Neal replied. "But save the mushy stuff for her. She should be home tonight, you know. And I can find someplace to be for another hour or so."

x

Belle was cleaning when someone buzzed the intercom from the front door.

"Yeah?" she said as she opened the line.

"It's me...Joshua."

She'd have recognized his voice even if he hadn't introduced himself. She shouldn't be so relieved to hear it again, but here she was being a complete fool all over again. It was so ridiculous, but she was just glad he hadn't forgotten all about her.

"What's up?" she asked as calmly as she could manage.

"Can I come up?"

Yes. No. Maybe? Oh, God, she was an absolute mess.

"Yeah," she said quickly. "Give me a minute."

She buzzed him in and ran to the bathroom. She combed out her hair, ran a cleansing towel over her face, and put on some mascara as quick as she could. She was just swiping some color onto her lips when she heard him knock on the door. There was nothing to do about the rest of her, but she tied her flannel shirt up in front to accentuate her waistline if nothing else. She wasn't trying to seduce him, she just wanted to make sure he'd miss her when he left is all.

"Hey," she said as she opened the door. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"You almost didn't," he replied. "But I had a visit from Neal."

"Yeah? What'd he say?"

"Nothing important," he said. "I just wanted to see if you'd like to go to dinner with me."

"Sounds like that was a really good visit."

"It was, but I'm serious. I'd like to take you to dinner – just the two of us."

Belle had no damn idea how to respond to that. She liked him, but she didn't want to lead him on. It wasn't right.

"I don't know," she said at last. "You know my situation. This isn't going to be easy, you know."

"It's just dinner right now," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down nervously. "We can work the rest out later. If you want to, anyway."

"I think I can do dinner," she said at last. "Would you like to come in? I just need to get changed."

He smiled, and followed her into the apartment. This was going to be hard, but maybe – just maybe – it could be worth it.


	8. Chapter 8

_One year later…_

Belle was graduating in a matter of hours, and she had no idea how she was going to avoid losing her goddamn mind. Joshua was coming into town for the ceremony and she was still sending out resumes to every damn library in the tri-state area plus Maine and hadn't had any replies yet. Neal was antsy to move his new girlfriend Emma into the apartment, so she was really starting to feel the time crunch to get something lined up.

She wouldn't mind staying in the city, but everything was so ridiculously expensive and honestly she was kind of ready for a change. She and Joshua had been doing this long distance thing for awhile now and it really was time to go ahead and take things to another level or call it quits, and she wasn't ready to call it quits. She was really hoping to get something closer to where Joshua lived so they could maybe actually make a go of it. There was just the little matter that there weren't any openings where he lived.

"When's your dad going to be here?" she asked Neal as soon as he came through the door from work. "I texted to ask him but he hasn't replied yet."

"He's probably on the plane right now," Neal replied evenly. "Stop freaking out. You'll be together soon enough."

"I'm not freaking out!"

"You haven't curled your hair like that in months and all your clothes are on your bed. I don't want to ask about the state of your underwear drawer but I can imagine."

She could feel herself flush with the awkwardness of Neal noticing her preparations to fuck his dad, but he said it with a wry sort of smile and if he wasn't embarrassed she shouldn't be. They'd had a close relationship before, but her dating his dad had required a series of new boundaries. He'd gotten past the worst of the uncomfortable feeling, but they'd drawn up a series of terms on the subject. When Joshua was in town, Belle stayed with him in his hotel and their time together rarely overlapped with their time with him. They all three decided to keep everything as compartmentalized as possible for as long as possible, and so far it was working. But graduation meant that compartmentalizing like that might not be possible anymore.

"I'm graduating!" she protested. "I have to look nice!"

"Hey, you know the rule," Neal replied. "As long as I don't have to call you 'Mom' I don't care what you two get up to when I'm not there."

She scowled and smacked him in the middle of the chest.

"Don't be an asshole," she teased. "Just tell me what time he's going to be here so I can plan my evening."

"He should be landing within the hour," Neal said. "Emma's coming over tonight, so I was kind of planning on you _not_ being here if you don't mind, so can you finish packing already?"

"You're a jerk."

"Yeah, well you're stuck with me."

"Not for too much longer."

"Well, I guess that depends on how much you like my dad, doesn't it?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and retreated to her room to collect her belongings into some kind of an order. He was totally right, and she needed to prepare for the week ahead. Neal had been such a smug bastard about it lately, but that was probably his prerogative since he was actually being pretty cool about her and his father dating or whatever it was they were doing.

"Remind me to throw this all back in your face when you graduate in December," she called out from her room.

"I'm your rock," he yelled back. "What would you do without me?"

She still couldn't believe he was actually _graduating_. It wasn't necessarily early, but it was ahead of his deadline from his father. The photography thing had been a complete wash, but surprisingly a lot of his other credits had transferred into Communication. He was going to be an actual business major at the end of all of it, and Belle was pretty sure his father had fainted dead away when he heard the news. Still, stranger things had happened.

x

It felt like it had taken forever for Joshua to get into town, but he let her know once he arrived at the airport and she managed to catch him at the hotel while he was still checking in.

"Hey," he said as soon as he saw her. "You look lovely."

"I'm glad you think so," she replied. "I just threw this on."

She could tell he didn't believe her, but it was just as well. It was a brand new dress and she'd spent hours getting ready to see him. She was graduating tomorrow, and she was going to have it be a fabulous weekend if it killed her.

"Are you excited?" he asked once they were finally in his room.

"Excited and terrified. I still don't have any offers, and now that school is over I'm not doing TA work anymore or getting grants, so I'm down to just the job at the resale shop. I need something to turn up or I'll end up waiting tables with Neal."

"I see," he said, setting his bags down at the foot of the bed and going to the minibar. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Please. I don't want to think about any of that tonight. I haven't seen you in ages and I'm finally through with school. It should all be good news."

"It will be," he said as he brought her a minibar cocktail. "Were you wanting to stay in the city?"

"I've been applying up and down the eastern seaboard," she replied as she sat on the bed and tucked her legs up underneath her. "But I don't want to go further away from you than I already am. It's hard enough at this distance and, well, I was sort of hoping we could try and see a little more of each other now that I'm out of school."

"I'd like that."

"Well, it's all a moot point if something doesn't turn up."

"About that," he said, setting his drink down on the end table and digging into one of his bags. "I'd planned to tell you about this tomorrow, but I think our night will go a lot better if I tell you now."

"Oh?"

"The Storybrooke city council has been going back and forth about expanding the library to include a children's section," he said as he pulled some papers out of the bag and offered them to her. "It would be a fairly major renovation, so it's been in the works for years. There was finally an anonymous private donation made to cover the expansion and the local schools are working on a book drive to start the collection. The council set aside a budget to hire a new children's librarian, and I was wondering if you might be interested."

"What?"

"It doesn't pay a whole lot," he said quickly. "At least not at first. It's very much an entry level position, but whoever they hire would need to start within the month. They'd be in charge of curating the initial collection and setting up the reading areas, planning summer programs, things of that nature."

"Are you offering me a job?" she asked incredulously. This was all far too much, and she shouldn't accept it, but damn she wanted to accept it.

"More or less," he replied. "You'd need to go up to interview with the mayor before anything could be settled, but I have some sway over the hiring committee and there aren't a good many people interested in moving to small towns in Maine for entry level."

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked down at the plans for the library expansion. It wasn't going to be big, but it could be hers and it would get her foot in the door if she wanted to go to a better job someplace else later. She'd have great experience, and there would be a chance to make this relationship really work. It was far too big a present, but she was ecstatic with the results.

"I just have one question," she said, pulling him down to join her on the bed.. "Just exactly how anonymous was this private donation?"

He looked away guiltily and she smiled. God, he was too sweet sometimes.

"Very anonymous," he replied at last. "There's no telling where it came from."

"That's too bad," she said as she set her drink down next to his. "Because I'd love to show this mysterious benefactor how grateful I am."

She slid back into the center of the bed and reclined against the pillows as seductively as she could possibly manage. He gulped, but didn't follow her immediately so she crooked her fingers to beckon him forward.

"I'm sure he knows," he said as she pulled him on top of her.

"Still," she said. "I'm very, _very_ grateful."

She pulled him down into a bruising kiss, savoring the taste of him as long as she could manage it. He was wonderful, and he was all hers. This was going to be the start of something amazing, and she wouldn't waste a second of it.


End file.
